Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Monday, June 19, 2017

People's Catholic Seminary and Christian Mystics

People’s Catholic Seminary (PCS), a seminary without walls, offers programs in theology and spirituality for groups and individuals.
Program facilitators accompany groups and individuals throughout the programs.

Currently PCS is
offering a 12 week program on the Christian Mystics. This program explores the
life of six mystics using text from Bridget Mary Meehan’s book, Praying with Visionary Women, along with
supplemental materials from YouTube and Blogger, an on-line vehicle for sharing
information. Through the use of Blogger, participants post responses to
assignments. Other participants are able to read the posts and respond to them.
This cohort model is a great learning opportunity for those who like to work
and interact in groups.

Courtney Allen is
currently enrolled in the mystic’s program. Her response (below) to an
assignment on Catherine of Siena is a very good example of the quality of work
submitted by the program participants.

About Courtney Allen

Courtney Allen is an Italian-American
Catholic with a deep and abiding love for the faith, and for the ways it can
grow through the gifts of inclusive visionaries. As a former academic
medievalist, she has a special place in her heart for women mystics and is delighted
to explore their modern-day relevance with the ARCWP. Courtney currently
resides in Southern California and enjoys a career in the museum field, while
she discerns God's call regarding how she can be of most useful service.

Catherine of Siena
by Courtney Allen

The
treatment of body as sacred space is prehistoric. In Greek thought, the
concept for development of mind, body, and spirit toward virtue was termed
“arete.” Arete meant striving for the highest good, the most excellent
self, that state of holiness in which one desired to dwell. This process
required an integrated approach, with the improvement of all components depending
on each other and leading one’s quest to the most sacred purpose:
contemplation. Henri Nouwen refers to this intersection of mind, body,
and spirit as “the heart,” the place within ourselves where we can best listen
to God. From ancient to contemporary, mystics have offered testimony on
the sanctity of self-unity.

Much
medieval Christian theology builds upon the foundations of ancient philosophy;
however, attitudes of body positivity did not always make the transition during
this period, and were replaced in some cases with mortification
practices. Catherine of Siena did not ascribe to contemplation through
integration. In fact, she believed the exact opposite – that the body and
spirit are in fundamental conflict, as evidenced in her Treatise of Prayer (18.
Light of reason), in which she states: “the fragility of the body is a cause of
humiliation to the soul.” Today, we may deem Catherine’s separation from
her body as unhealthy, rather than a method of discipline to heighten the spirit.
We might note in her Dialogue (particularly Treatise of Prayer, 19) the
obsession to become “perfect,” as a sign of body dysmorphia. We may ask
why her family would enable such behaviors, or point to them as a cause of her
lack of confidence in her own control or agency. We might ponder how
plague throughout her family changed her relationship to life and death, and
thereby her body. We could simplify Catherine’s piety as self-loathing,
pointing to her Treatise of Divine Providence (7), in which she claims that
“self-love…is the principle and foundation of every evil.”

However,
there is a more telling issue at the center of these discussions, and that is
the aversion to our own discomfort. As people of faith, God asks us to
sit with people who are in pain, including self-inflicted pain or inescapable
pain that lives inside them. Places of discomfort and pain are where God
is most present, and where we are most needed. Naturally, this is not as
comfortable as sitting with someone like Hildegard – someone whom we, through
our contemporary lens, identify with as strong and empowered. Or with
someone like Julian, who encourages us to believe in our goodness by virtue of
being made in God’s image. We can learn from Catherine in a different way.
Catherine’s vulnerability holds up a mirror to our own souls in a way we would
rather not acknowledge. Everyone feels less than worthy of God at some
point, forgetting our belovedness, forgetting that God’s love is not something
we can earn but rather something that is freely given. In those moments,
I would hope to be reminded of my belovedness, not judged for my insecurity.

Furthermore,
women are often judged by their bodies and their relationships to their bodies,
while men are judged solely on their work. Rather than accuse Catherine
of being complicit in her own oppression, without regard to the historical
context, a feminist perspective asks us to focus on Catherine’s strengths and
her offerings to us! We can glimpse this best not through her treatises,
but rather her letters. Of the approximately 385 letters that remain,
possibly the most powerful are her letters to Pope Gregory XI from around
1375-1378, at the end of the Avignon Papacy and approaching the Western
Schism. Catherine holds the Pope responsible for the divided Church,
stating in her first letter to him that “temporal things are failing you from
no other cause than from your neglect of the spiritual.” Catherine
believes that the Church has come to hold earthly wealth too dear, but that Catholics
(including some clergy, though not all) may return by God’s healing. She
encourages the Pope to let go of conflict and forgive with kindness, reminding
him in her second letter that “these sheep…cannot be won back by wrath or
war.” Pope Gregory XI eventually does relocate the Holy See to Rome, but
does not heed Catherine’s pleas; consequently, she declares “you should use
your virtue and power: and if you are not willing to use it, it would be better
for you to resign what you have assumed.” Catherine masterfully walks a fine
and dangerous line, writing directly about her concerns, but in a
conversational tone that indicates she is trying to engage, rather than berate,
the letters’ recipient. Catherine speaks truth with love, and with a long
vision toward unity. She reminds the Pope that action is required for
change: “If you want justice, you can execute it. You can have
peace.” Justice, peace, and unity require conscientious work.

The
same conscientious work is needed in the Church today. While the Church
remains united and rooted in its progressive stances on such critical issues as
charity, pluralism, and the environment, we are in the midst of another sort of
schism. The Church is diversifying and growing globally, and yet the same
system exists that enables organizational, doctrinal, and policy power to be
held by a select few, while large demographics (such as women and LGBTQ folks)
are not recognized as being called by God to the same leadership roles.
This inequality alienates Catholics from our religious home. When we
think about reform in the Church today, what we really mean is radicalism,
returning to our roots: a community of disciples in which individual and
differing voices are heard, represented, celebrated, and loved. Respectful,
kind, and open communication is critical to building unity; however, dialogue
requires a place at the table. A place at the table requires the constant
presence and persistence demonstrated by Catherine. We can use her tools:
initiating brave conversations with a wide range of people, including those in
power; voicing our ideas repeatedly and in written form, especially when they
are not solicited; and building allies for support. We do this out of
love of our faith and the belief that it can and should be more
inclusive. That we can do better. That the body of the Church
should be striving for arete.

Catherine,
you led a life peppered with self-doubt. Yet through your trials, you
surrendered your heart to God. You accepted God’s call to “rise out of
yourself,” from an interior life that at times was tumultuous, in order to
bravely speak truth with love. Guide us to transform our feelings of
brokenness into belief in belovedness, and to share the message of belovedness
with others through service. Remind us to love God in our wholeness, in
our bodies, and in our imperfection. Give us strength, bravery, and
compassion to open difficult dialogues and to advocate for inclusion.
Help us to grow each day in our understanding of the “two things [necessary to
be] blessed: who we are, and who God is.”

For more
information about PCS, contact Bridget Mary and Mary Theresa at peoplescatholicseminary@gmail.com or visit the PCS website at www.pcseminary.blogspot.com.
Individual programs are available on request. Group programs begin again in the
fall.